RE: More AO-40 reception

When I read that, I laughed so hard I thought I was going to cry. If only I
owned a chainsaw.... my yard is surrounded by trees.
Ed wrote:
>Doppler direction seems to have reversed when using the second Drake
>{turn-on drift?}. It appears that there is insufficient signal for me to
>copy very well above squint ~49.5, though I did hear the weak signal out to
>about squint 53.
My experience with my Drakes is that they take a minimum of 1/2 hour to
stabilize.
I have trouble decoding telemetry at squint angles > 45 degrees although I
can still hear the bird for quite some time after that. I also have trouble
hearing the bird below 15 degrees elevation even though I have a clear shot
through the trees.
Ed wrote:
>The 123 MHz IF Drake (#2) seemed to perform slightly better than the 435
>MHz IF Drake (#1) {though the sat had progressed to higher squint by that
>time, so that could be why}. Drake #1 has a noise floor of S-2.5 (9+) and
>Drake #2 noise floor is S-1 (7.0). (noise floor with preamp on)
With my Drakes, I have one with the "simple mods" with a 144MHz IF and a
noise floor of around S3. My second Drake has all of the mods with a 144MHz
IF and that noise floor is around S7. With the addition of the DEM preamp,
the noise floor increases by about 2 S-units on both units. But I can't
overstate the importance of a good low NF preamp on the front of either
Drake. It makes a world of difference.
Keep at it Ed. I had a lot of trouble receiving AO40 at first. It sounds
to me that your system is working ok.
With the attitude of the bird and the arcjet firings messing with the
position, you will have difficulty hearing/finding it. I just received the
latest keps (#100) and according to NOVA, it seems the perigee got LOWER! I
am in a wait and see mode right now until the firings are complete or
accurate keps are available.
All I can say is look for the low squint angle passes. That is the best
time to listen. And remember, the beacon is currently OFF from MA 100 to MA
180. As always, check out:
http://www.amsat-dl.org/journal/adlj-p3d.htm
for the latest official information.
Disclaimer: This is information from a newbie and may be subject to
inaccuracies. I'm still learning here ladies and gentlemen! And I'm having
a ball doing it!
Good luck!
-K3TZ
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-AMSAT-BB@AMSAT.Org [mailto:owner-AMSAT-BB@AMSAT.Org]On
> Behalf Of John / NS1Z
> Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2001 5:44 AM
> To: amsat-bb@AMSAT.Org; Edward R. Cole
> Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] More AO-40 reception
>
>
> This is my kind of Ham! 8-)
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Edward R. Cole <al7eb@ptialaska.net>
> To: <amsat-bb@AMSAT.Org>
> Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2001 7:27 AM
> Subject: [amsat-bb] More AO-40 reception
>
>
> > Another successful night, so the equipment apparently works.
> > (text deleted)
>
> > 0416 dropped three trees in the way with the chain saw
> >
>
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